Analysis of When You Are Old
William Ernest Henley 1849 (Gloucester) – 1903 (Woking)
When you are old, and I am passed away –
Passed, and your face, your golden face is gray –
I think, what’er the end, this dream of mine,
Comforting you, a friendly star will shine
Down the dim slope where you still stumble and stray.
So may it be: that so dead yesterday,
Not sad-eyed ghost but generous and gay,
May serve your memories like almighty wine,
When you are old!
Dear Heart, it shall be so. Under the sway
Of death the past’s enormous disarray
Lies hushed and dark. Yet though there come no sign,
Live on well pleased: immortal and divine
Love shall still tend you, as God’s angels may,
When you are old.
Scheme | aabbaaabC aabbaC |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Tetractys (20%) |
Metre | 1111011101 1011110111 111011111 1001010111 10111111001 111111110 1111110001 11110010101 1111 1111111001 110101001 1101111111 1111010001 1111111101 1111 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 620 |
Words | 119 |
Sentences | 6 |
Stanzas | 2 |
Stanza Lengths | 9, 6 |
Lines Amount | 15 |
Letters per line (avg) | 32 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 237 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 59 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 35 sec read
- 89 Views
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